Alone
by NeloQuill
Summary: Yukimura Hyouga had always looked for validation from others-but was being alone the answer he was looking for? Two-shot.
1. The Scarf

**A/N:** The full sentences in itallics are Yukimura's thoughts. And for those unfamiliar with mild japanese, here's a glossary:

Oto-san=father

Senpai=Respected upperclassman

Ne-kind of like a question particle, as in "You'd want chocolate, ne Shirou?"

Arigato=Thankyou

Enough of that now-enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** Inazuma Eleven belongs to Hino Akhiro and not me, and a good thing too xD

"That's all for today!"

Yukimura registered his Coach's voice as his last shot hit the net, and fell to the ground with a satisfying, snow-muffled _thump._ He picked up the ball and jogged his way back to the bench. It had been snowing for a while now, and godness knows how long he had been practicing -the sun had gone down ages ago.

"Arigato, Fubuki-senpai.", smiling, he accepted a waterbottle from his teacher, depositing the soccer ball onto the bench for the time being.

Fubuki checked the school clock, which was visible from the bench.

"It's already 7:30, Yukimura. Maybe it's best to return home now, your parents might be worried."

Yukimura immediately jumped back up."Nonono-I can still go on, my parents wont worry at all!"

 _They don't care, anyway._

But then a thought hit the bluenet:"But _you_ probably have someone waiting for you, ne Fubuki-senpai?", Yukimura bit his lip. He wanted to practice a bit more, but he didnt want to be a hindrance to his Coach.

 _I don't want to be in the way._

"No, not really", Fubuki scooped up the football and his own water bottle before walking back to the lodge. Yukimura obediently followed, sighing inwardly. And shivering a bit, too: a blizzard was going to start up soon, with all this wind. He shouldn't have left his jacket at home.

"I've been living alone for…quite some time now, actually."

"But what about your family? They're probably waiting for you-your siblings, or your mother and father-", Yukimura stopped himself and bit his lip. Who was he to make assumptions about Fubuki-senpai's home life? It wasn't any of his business!

 _I should have known to keep my mouth shut._

Yukimura was startled when he received a silence instead of the reprimand most adults would have given him by now. The boy cautiously looked up at the older man, who had paused amidst packing up.

"When…when I was a bit younger than you are right now, my family died in an avalanche.", he paused,"It was my younger brother who pushed me out of the car in time, even if it meant he wouldn't make it out himself."

Silence filled the room. It felt brittle-no, icy.

"So…Eternal Blizzard, it's…?", a nod from Fubuki confirmed it; Eternal Blizzard had been his long-gone younger brother's hissastsu…which meant…

"W-Well, I don't know if it'll help,"Yukimura chose his words carefully,"You can be part of MY family, and be MY Oto-san, and-"

A surprised laugh broke out from the boy's older companion.

"I'm pretty sure you already HAVE an Oto-san, Yukimura," Fubuki shook his head, still smiling. He took out a small, white scarf from his bag.

"This was Atsuya's-my brother, I mean", Fubuki elaborated."I kept it with me because I didnt want to feel alone-now I think it's okay to stop dwelling in the past."

He held out the scarf to Yukimura.

 _No way._

"Take it. You're going to need it anyway", Fubuki offered, gesturing towards the window-it was pretty windy out there.

Yukimura took the scarf. It was a standard, thick woolen scarf. And in reasonably good quality, if it was more than a decade old.

 _Just like the hissatsu...its something important, and he's giving it to_ me.

Yukimura looked up at his Coach with sparkling eyes, and true happiness spread all over his face.

"Arigato, Fubuki-senpai!!"

"No problem-now let's get you home, okay?"

"Yeah!"

For once, going home didn't feel damning, or lonely or hateful-despite the harsh wind, the walk home for Yukimura atleast, was elating and energetic-he jumped and skipped most of the way, talking to his senpai about everything from the weather to squirrel hibernation patterns. They were at their destination all too soon.

"I'll see you tommorrow, okay?", Fubuki waved, walking off already.

"Yeah!", Yukimura exclaimed, his new scarf flapping in the wind, almost as if it were waving, too.


	2. The Shrine

**(Ahhh, sorry this took so long to write! But there is NO WAY I'm typing all this out on phone, and since my own laptop hates me, I need to borrow my sister's so '. Anyway, I can't write up a happy ending to save my life, so here we go, a fanfic born from @inazumaelevenimagines on tumblr, and InaGO's lack of attention to a certain Bluenet! Enjoy! :3)** **PS: The Shrine I talk about appears in at the end of Episode 31, where we first see Fubuki, at North Ridge.**

"I'm Home!", Yukimura yelled out, entering his house. He swiftly padded through the family room, where both of his parents were working at desks in opposite corners. Neither raised their head as their son came in.

 _What else is new?_

Ignoring the now-familiar bitter pang in his chest, Yukimura hurried upstairs to finish pesky homework-he'd need to sleep well if he was going to manage through practices like these more often.

The next day, a new coach walked into the lodge. Yukimura felt his mind race with worry-fueled thoughts: Was Fubuki-senpai sick? He shouldn't have kept him here so long after hours with the practice! What if he had fallen ill because of the walk back to his own home through yesterday's blizzard? Was he going to be okay-?

"Alright, get outside and follow the new training menus issued to all of you. There will be no need to talk.", the new, harsher coach barked, leaving the lodge himself.

 _I hate him already._

Teachers had to call in to the principal if they were sick, right? Or at the very least, they'd send a letter. He hoped Fubuki-senpai would get better soon; this guy was a drag. As soon as the final whistle sounded, Yukimura dashed to the school building, ignoring Shirosaki's snide remarks.

 _I can pay him back later._

He just hoped everything would be okay.

 _Resigned_.

Yukimura leaned against the wall next to the Principal's office door.

"Yes, he handed in his resignation yesterday", the principal's voice still rang in his head, "Right after a practice session, it seemed. Then he just walked right out the door and we haven't been able to find head or tail of him since."

 _No._

Yes.

 _He wouldn't leave._

Well, he DID.

 _He wouldn't leave **me**._

He has, alright?! You thought your PARENTS wouldn't leave you alone after they got their new jobs, you thought after joining a team, they wouldn't leave you alone either!

 _I trusted him._

You trusted everyone else, too.

Yukimura tried to control his breathing. He leaned down and braced his hands on his knees to try and make the process easier. Come to think of it, where _was_ he?

He took a look around-and shivered. It seemed he'd run a _bit_ farther than he had intended-he'd only wanted to get outside of town, but this place looked like one of the roads _leading_ to town. He sighed and straightened up. It was going to be one hell of a walk back.

Before he was done taking two full steps however, Yukimura felt a jab of pain creeping up his foot. He looked down-and saw a shrine, of sorts. It was knee-high, an built out of stone, with some sort of red-robed figure inside of it. He recognised it as some old diety, but he'd never really been payed attention to the holy figurines in his house, much less the ones at school. All he knew was what the statue's red robes and hat symbolized: Blood. Death. Mourning.

He shivered again.

 _What is this place?_

A sign across the road answered his question:

 **North Ridge.**

North Ridge, the avalanche-zone that was the setting of almost every horrific folk take for miles around. North Ridge, where countless travelers met their snowy doom.

 _Run, get out of here! This place is a death-trap!_

Yukimura was at the brink of running back-back to Hakuren or back to his room, that was to be debated on the way-but something stopped him.

He found himself touching the white scarf, given to him only yesterday by a man he had trusted. He looked at the statue again.

Red. Blood. Death. Mourning.

 _Mourning._

He knelt down.

 _I'm mourning, too._

Carefully, slowly, he removed the old, white scarf from his neck. The sudden, harsh and almost painful cold was strangely fulfilling.

 _I lost someone, too._

He draped the scarf around the Statue instead.

 _And people usually leave things around these shrines when they're mourning, right?_

The boy stood back up, brushing the snow away from the slanted roof of the shrine.

 _You'll need it too, this winter's supposed to be worse than usual._

Yukimura took one last look at the statue. Maybe someone else would soon visit the statue, with flowers or a prayer book. How surprised would they be to find an old scarf here?

Smiling for the first time all day, the boy began his walk back to town. On his way, he made a promise. He'd left behind all traces of his trust in Fubuki-senpai. He left behind his need to be with someone and his need for validation from other people. He'd show them. He'd show them all.

 _I'll beat them all…and I'll do it alone!_

 **(Ok, so the Shrine was actually from the end of episode 31, where we first see Fubuki. See, he first appeared next to a shrine with a figurine inside, and later on, when Endou asks him what he had been doing out there, Fubuki didn't answer.So I think it's a Shrine to his FAMILY-since they died there, at North Ridge! Sorry if that part got a bit confusing-And the part about his neglectful parents?Thats been a headcanon of mine ever since I saw how mad he was at Fubuki for leaving-I found it strange how everyone assumed he had a crush on Fubuki or something? You do you guys, but this was my take on it :3)**


End file.
